Friday, June 18, 2010

Aretha Franklin shocked guests at the Apollo Theater Spring 2010 Benefit Monday night when she gave an impromptu performance of "Rock Steady" for the unsuspecting crowd!

The Queen of Soul had just been inducted into the legendary music venue's hall of fame by Danny Glover, and emcee Jamie Foxx hinted that the crowd wanted to hear a little more from Franklin following her acceptance speech.

"That's the testimony of a true legend," Foxx said, following the surprise two-minute performance.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

We wish we could kick off every weekend with a Norah Jones/Sarah McLachlan concert in the park...

But, we'll take what we can get!

On Friday morning around six (yes, six), Poison Ivy trekked it to New York's Central Park to see Norah Jones and Sarah McLachlan team up for a Good Morning America concert!

"I just got pooped on by a bird," McLachlan announced during a quiet moment of soundcheck.

"That's good luck," she laughed. "Or so they tell me."

McLachlan will be touring with Jones for nearly two months on the Lilith Tour this summer - and used her GMA time to perform "Forgiveness" and "Heartbreak" off of the recently released Laws of Illusion.

Jones performed "It's Gonna Be," "Young Blood," and "Chasing Pirates" off of 2009's The Fall, recruiting a vintage Wurlitzer electric piano for her performances.

"Vintage instruments are dangerous because they break, but they're more fun," she told GMA's George Stephanopoulos.

"It's always good to drink hot water before you sing," Jones added, when Stephanopoulos asked if she had any pre-show rituals.

Multiply that by 52 weeks, and conservatively, we can say we check out over a thousand shows per year.

Why are we telling you this?

Because, we want you to understand the gravity of the following statement.

We have NEVER walked away from an event - in more than five years in the biz - having learned more - or laughed harder - than at Kelly Cutrone's hour-long Q&A in Bryant Park Wednesday afternoon.

The PR maven and Bravo reality TV star showed up to support her newest book - If You Have to Cry Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You- but fielded a dozen or so questions from the audience on topics ranging from her former drug use to how to cut your teeth in the PR world to why she would never work at Prada.

"To work at Prada, you have to have a certain type of pencil... a certain type of pencil holder," she told the 200 young faces in the audience. "I'm just not minimalist in that way."

"Betsey Johnson... love her... but could you imagine me in [a Betsey Johnson] dress doing cartwheels next to her [on the runway]? It would be ridiculous."

"You should clean the toilets with the same attitude as if you were meeting the president," Cutrone advised the young professionals, noting that "There is nothing like watching an entry-level employee do [their job] with pride and grace."

Cutrone also used the forum to clear up some rumors.

"I'm not anti-American. I'm not anti-men, and I'm not a lesbian," she said. "Just to answer those questions right off the bat."

And Cutrone spoke freely about the various challenges associated with starting your own business, when one audience member announced she was an entrepreneur.

"The hardest thing about being an entrepreneur is that you're an entrepreneur," Cutrone said.

"There's nobody to back you up. An entrepreneur is a bounty hunter and a cop is a corporate employee... I'm more like an indie hitman."

In her book, Cutrone admits to battling a drug addiction, and a member of the audience questioned whether she had overcome it completely.

"I don't do drugs at all, like, nothing," she said. "I've never seen anyone [improve] on drugs."

"If I have to wear lingerie and be really skinny and smile and say 'how are you?' and 'I love that,' I don't want to succeed. Instead I want to wear a grandma gown and say 'I hate you' and 'you're dumb.'"

LOL!

Check out a two-minute clip we recorded from Cutrone's discussion, below.

We had such a fantastic time at Brad Walsh's birthday/album release party Saturday night at Red Bull Space!

Walsh was celebrating the release of new record Unhitched Restitched (grab it here), and recruited the help of DJ Josh Madden (with Poison Ivy, second photo) and electro-synth crooners DATABOY (bottom photo), who performed the Walsh-remixed "Misinformation."

Check out our favorite snapshots from the night - including one of Walsh's boyfriend Christian Siriano cutting a Dunkin "Donuts" cake (third photo) above, and a video of Walsh blowing out his cupcake candles, below.

Cobra Starship rocking the roof of the Manhattan Ford dealership to celebrate the Ford Fiesta launch Thursday (top photo), Scarlett Johansson accepting a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for A View From the Bridge at the 64th Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall Sunday (middle photo), Kat DeLuna performing at the Girls Who Rock benefit concert supporting AfricAid at Santos Party House Thursday (bottom photo), and Emmy Rossum wearing all white at the Wildlife Conservation Society's annual Spring Gala at the Central Park Zoo Thursday.

Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves shopping in Tribeca Monday (top photo), Seth Green cozying up to Zach Galifianakis at the Digital Content Newfront Conference kick-off party at The Standard Tuesday (middle photo), Krystal Simpson of whatisrealityanyway.com debuting her Coach bag at the Coach Madison store Tuesday with Poison Ivy (bottom photo), and KiptonArt.com celebrating its five-year anniversary/New York City Ballet's Kick-off for Dance With The Dancers with art by Skye Nicolas at 75 Wall Tuesday.